


Once An Enemy.

by BGee93



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Aobajousai, Awkward Dates, Awkward Meetings, Awkward Romance, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Bonding, Cliche, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Confessions, Confusion, Declarations Of Love, Domestic Fluff, Dorks in Love, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, Forced Bonding, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Idiots in Love, Literal Sleeping Together, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, Not Beta Read, Sharing a Bed, Shiratorizawa, Sleeping Together, Sleepovers, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Volleyball, Volleyball Dorks & Nerds, Volleyball Dorks in Love, boyfriend sweater, cliches, ficwriterssummerexchange, meme team - Freeform, verasficexchange, very slow burn, volleyball mentioned not played
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-17 21:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15470304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BGee93/pseuds/BGee93
Summary: 'It took several minutes to catch his breath again and to stop hissing through his teeth at the areas that throbbed, until they were just a dull ache. Once Iwaizumi felt he was able to move again he slid his hands up the strangers chest, ignoring the ripple and twitches his touch caused since the situation was already awkward enough without Iwaizumi appreciating the well toned muscle under his fingertips, as he pushed himself up till he was able to look at the persons face. There was more lighting on the bottom floor, as it was closer to the illuminating street lamps outside, so he was able to make out exactly who the man was within mere seconds despite the face still being quite shadowed. And the identity shocked him into stilling every joint, muscle and fiber of his being.Oh hell no.'





	Once An Enemy.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/gifts).



> So, uh, this kind of exploded and suddenly I'd written a 20k fic. XD
> 
> I hope I was able to do this pairing justice, I've never written for them before and I'm not sure if I was able to grasp their characterizations well. But I hope you enjoy it all the same!

When he looks back on how all this started, how his life somehow came to be on this path, Iwaizumi finds himself almost drowning in a pool of mixed emotions.

Obviously there’s the swirling, light hearted feeling of happiness and contentment which, he can say for sure, is the most overpowering emotion he’s currently drowning in. Sure his life hasn’t quite turned out the way he expected, but all in all Iwaizumi has to admit that now that he’s older his childhood dreams and fantasies no longer match up with his adulthood ones. He used to dream of playing Pro Volleyball with Tooru, traveling around and training on an amazing team while dominating the sport together. The thoughts of it all during those younger years would leave his stomach full of butterflies and every nerve in his body buzzing on edge with excitement.

But, after taking the first year off after High School to focus on studies in College, Tooru choosing another school altogether despite their previous plans because it would further his own dreams and advance his skills. It had surprised the hell out of him when he found himself standing outside the campus gym, staring in at a practice game, and not feeling a nagging, lingering, insistent pull to go inside the brightly lit building like he had in the beginning of the year. Obviously, he still holds a never ending love for the sport, even plays at the Rec center a few blocks away on a few of his rare days off, but it’s no longer a borderline obsession. 

With that turn of events came the tugging, sinking feeling of sadness which resided deep inside his gut and liked to show up every time Iwaizumi got reminiscing about those _’good ol’ days_ ’. The addition of nostalgia doubling the overall heaviness the sadness brought on, but also, somehow, in some way, amping up the brightness of happiness. It’s an odd mix but that’s how it feel to him.

This brings on the confusion and uncertainty that chains these feelings together in a seemingly invisible web that always sneaks up on him and hits with full force before he can grasp what’s happening. Growing up he’d always been so sure of where he was going and how he was going to get there, a set plan on what needed to be done to get from point A to B and end up all the way at Z. Instead it was as if he started at A went to B, skipped a few steps to G before U-turning and ending up at E and now he’s ended up at O with no plans to ever end up at Z.

And a large part of him is perfectly okay with this.

But, then there’s regret. Yeah, it’s a bit of a cliche and anyone can literally grab some stranger off the street and get them going on and on about all the things they’ve regretted in their life and they would go on and on for hours about it all. But it’s not something he’s going to deny that he feels. He regrets all the times his teenage self convinced himself that certain people are the _enemy_ and that automatically makes them untrustworthy or an asshole. He regrets not using the instincts that his own teammates always praised him for, the ones he personally prided himself on for years for having.

Only to grow up and notice that those so called _enemies_ and _untrustworthy, assholes_ were, as a matter of proven fact, some of the nicest and probably the most misunderstood individuals he’s ever met.

A specific example of this being none other than the one, and only, Ushijima Wakatoshi. His teams greatest enemy in High School, mainly Tooru’s if he’s being honest, but he was his best friend so Ushijima was also his enemy by default, and one of the bluntest, most irritating pricks that Iwaizumi had ever come across in his young adult life. At least he’d thought so until about four months through the first year of College when he was put in a position where he got a small glimpse into who the man actually was underneath his serious, too blunt for normal society side. It had been… shocking, to say the least.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

Iwaizumi had been studying for an upcoming paper he needed to start soon in one of the back, more isolated corners of the campus library when he’d fallen asleep. Face pressed into the spine of his open Literature textbook, arm slung over the notebooks and a pen hanging loosely between two of his fingers while the other arm dangled between his legs underneath the table. A few hours later he woke up to a very dark and eerily silent building. He knew immediately, from a previous experience, he’d gotten locked in. The student who worked the night shift at the desk obviously not caring enough to check and see if anyone was still hanging around on the upper levels before locking up and leaving.

Sighing heavily he rubbed the crust of sleep out of the corners of his eyes with the rough, dry flesh of the heels of his hands. Blinking away the spots that formed from the pressure his eyes focused, squinting slightly, at the surroundings. If it wasn’t for the glass windows, instead of walls, which allowed the yellow-orange glow of the streetlights inside, he wouldn’t have been able to see anything at all, let alone the overall shapes and outlines of the surrounding objects. A hand ran up to scratch at the short hairs on his nape as another deep sigh passed his lips before it turned into a yawn. 

A quick shift back in the seat allowed him the ability to pull his cell from his sweats, also earning him a groan as a painful, numbness spread over his arse telling him the muscles were long past asleep and standing up was going to utterly suck at this point. Mentally scolding himself for falling asleep in a wooden chair, again, instead of one of the plush sofas or armchairs on the top level, Iwaizumi started to pack up his things. Once everything was carefully placed back into his backpack he finally clicked the home button on his cells screen to check the time.

Only to have it remain black and lifeless.

Cursing rather loudly, loudly enough that the words bounced around the stilled, eerie air before boomeranging back at him. He thrusted the device back into the deep pocket of his sweats. He once again rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands, rather painfully, as another heavy sigh escaped him. Unsure of what else to do Iwaizumi pushed back on the chair causing it to squeal, in an uncomfortably high pitch, before standing and stretching out the now sore muscles and creaky joints. A few joints cracking in the process and his muscles felt tingly and sore with each movement but it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to from previous years of abuse to them. When he bent over to pick up the strap of his bag a breeze whooshed past him, an automatic shiver rippling through and across the surface of his exposed skin leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.

_Probably should have brought a sweater with me…_

He rubbed his hands over his chilled, bare arms, thanks to the green muscle shirt he’d chosen to wear that day, in an attempt to rid himself of the tiny, annoying bumps and offer a short sense of warmth. Silently hoping that the wait for morning wouldn’t leave him freezing to death, Iwaizumi swung the backpack over one of his shoulders and slowly trudged towards the stairs across the darkened room. He figured there would be no point in trying to sleep the rest of the night since he’d obviously slept for a good while and getting more right away would just cause him to wake up feeling overly groggy and would also more than likely give him a headache. But there might be an outlet where he can charge his cell by the computers or the front desk on the lower level. 

With that thought in mind he none too gentle stomped down the stairs at a slow but steady pace, being careful not to misstep and fall to his death. His lips quirked a bit at that thought. Not to say that the thought of his death was funny, but the aftermath of him dying because he fell asleep in the campus library, again, then got locked inside said library, again, and fell down a flight of stairs trying to find a place to charge his phone. Mattsun and Makki would surely create some kind of meme about it in his honor, and Tooru would be sad but would definitely laugh his ass off when he’d hear about the whole thing. And then he would most definitely make nerd jokes to make up for all the ones he’s made towards him whenever Tooru wore his glasses.

He was finally at the bottom step when a large, shadowed figure suddenly stepped in front of him, blocking him getting off of the stairs and efficiently scaring the shit out of him. No matter how much he denied it later on, Iwaizumi did three embarrassing things once that shadowed figure appeared seemingly out of nowhere. 

The first thing he did was release a long, drawn out, higher pitched than he expected, scream. While he was screaming his arms moved on their own and yanked the strap of his backpack off of his shoulder, swinging it around at the figure in front of him. More than likely he looked ridiculous and probably looked like he belonged in some horrible teen-drama show than in real life, which is what makes it the second embarrassing thing he did in that moment.

The third embarrassing thing he did, was trip over his own feet. The swinging of his arms doubled with him tripping quickly, and rather efficiently, projectiled himself forwards to land directly on top of the shadowed figure. They both fell forwards to the floor in a bruising and awkward pile with Iwaizumi, thankfully from how much it hurt when they landed, sprawled across a very broad chest. The brunt of the fall is what killed his scream and turned it into a wheezing _oomf_ as the wind was knocked out of him. Beneath him the man grunted, the sound vibrating between them where their chests touched, but otherwise made no other noise.

It took several minutes to catch his breath again and to stop hissing through his teeth at the areas that throbbed, until they were just a dull ache. Once Iwaizumi felt he was able to move again he slid his hands up the strangers chest, ignoring the ripple and twitches his touch caused since the situation was already awkward enough without Iwaizumi appreciating the well toned muscle under his fingertips, as he pushed himself up till he was able to look at the persons face. There was more lighting on the bottom floor, as it was closer to the illuminating street lamps outside, so he was able to make out exactly who the man was within mere seconds despite the face still being quite shadowed. And the identity shocked him into stilling every joint, muscle and fiber of his being.

_Oh hell no._

“Iwaizumi,” his jaw slackened as the vibrations of the deep timbre was felt where they were still touching chest to chest. Iwaizumi remained silent as his widened eyes took in the sharp, blunt, and disgustingly pleasant to look at, features of Ushijima’s face. The sleek line of his lightly stubble covered jaw, the long slope of his nose, cheekbones so sharply angled they looked like they belonged to a model and not a Volleyball jock. It all brought more attention to the slanted, almost almond sloped eyes that are, oddly, a very similar shade to his hair, at least in this lighting they are oddly similar. Iwaizumi blinked when he noticed how thick the mans lashes looked even though they were short, they lined the shape of his eyes so densely that if he looked long enough the eyes would start to appear more beautiful than simply intriguing. So he chose not to look anymore.

“Ushiwaka,” he ground out between gritted teeth as he pushed himself up and off of the other, turning away to stretch out and rub at the pained, throbbing areas on his body. The polite thing would have been to offer his hand and help the other stand up, since he was the one that actually ran into and knocked the other over, but Iwaizumi forced himself to focus his thoughts elsewhere.

“My name is Ushijima, it is not Ushiwaka,” it was said in a way that told Iwaizumi that Ushijima was assuming that he’d actually forgotten his name. With an exaggerated roll of his eyes Iwaizumi practically stomped across the room towards the front doors. Even as he heard the other clearly state that they were, in fact, locked he gripped the cool metal of the bar and pushed and then pulled harshly for good measure. More than probably it was also a slightly childish attempt to annoy the guy openly staring at him, but Iwaizumi didn’t care at the moment if his actions of blatantly ignoring Ushiwaka were juvenile. 

Of course, the doors rattled with the sudden force, but did not budge. Mentally he screamed, cursed and borderline prayed that his harsh abuse on the innocent doors just now had set off some kind of alarm, even as he knew from the last time that there was no alarm, and someone would be coming to let them out soon.

Another gust of chilled air brushed over his skin but he ignored it as best he could, allowing the goosebumps to form and spread, and somehow suppressed the shiver down. Still refusing to even glance at his unfortunate companion for the night, Iwaizumi swiftly turned once again to glance in the direction of the computers where there was no doubt an empty plugin somewhere. Choosing to check by the front desk instead of the cluster of desktops, which would require him to pass by Ushijima, he quickly scanned the area for an empty plugin. With, as he grudgingly expected, no luck.

Sighing he silently weighed his options, flipping through them as if he was turning the pages of a really shitty book. 

He could unplug something under the front desk to charge his phone, but that might get him in a lot more trouble than he was willing to risk just to get some battery life back, possibly even banned from the library. If that was even possible. 

Or, he could pass by his high school enemy, which would require him to acknowledge the other due to the small entrance to the desired location that the larger man still stood in. 

But then again, he could also leave his cell dead and useless, curl up by the front door and continue to pretend he was alone in the library until morning.

Deciding that that was, in fact, the best option Iwaizumi slumped down against a wall near the doorway. It was unfortunately even colder there, as the night-early morning air slipped in through barely visual spaces between the doors and door frame, but he figured he could ignore it and survive for a few more hours. Shuffling around he tried to find a slightly comfier position, which was a useless endeavor, honestly, but he still tried. Iwaizumi finally settled after a few minutes passed, laying his backpack across the lap of his crossed legs, folding his arms to rest on top of the bag, and slid down the wall a bit more until his head rested against the wall behind it. Once satisfied his gaze turned to look out the glass panes of the doors next to him, away from the direction of Ushiwaka.

“I did not see you at our Volleyball tryouts held earlier this year, do you not play anymore?” Iwaizumi huffed in annoyance and sent a low glare in his general direction, still not bothering to actually look at him. Why the hell Ushiwaka would even bother trying to begin a conversation with him, although the topic of choice wasn’t a surprise at all, he didn’t know. They weren’t friends, far from it, and they never would be, so Iwaizumi found himself wondering _why bother_? But the way the other simply stared right back at him, the growing intensity of the stares burning into his skin, tempting him to stare back, in a patient silence clearly stated that he not only expected an answer but would wait and watch Iwaizumi until he gave one. With another annoyed huff, his way of clearly showing he wasn’t interested in conversing, Iwaizumi finally forced a reply through gritted teeth.

“No I don’t, least not right now,”

“That is a shame, you possess a high level of talent,” Iwaizumi felt a surge of warmth spread over his cheeks when the words registered in his brain, but he refused to believe it was a blush from the sudden praise coming from the one and only Ushiwaka. His eyes widened and his jaw slacked open a fraction, a gust of air releasing through as if he’d been punched, as his lips began to move, to automatically thank him… Until the dumbass continued speaking. “Obviously not as much talent as most I have had the pleasure of playing against, but enough to be notable,”

“Gee… _Thanks_ ,” Iwaizumi felt the vein in his forehead throb and pulse to life as he gritted his teeth against each other once again, so hard his jaw ached with the force. His response had been thick, dripping with honeyed sarcasm which any moron would notice.

“You are welcome,” any moron except for this one apparently. 

His glaring attempts at remaining stiff, unmoving and angry were quickly brushed away as a rather violent shudder shook through him, seeming to affect every one of his muscles and send each nerve twitching at the sheer force of it. The suddenness brought him back to the realization of just how cold the room had grown as time continued to passed through their exchange. The flesh of his arms were so completely covered in bumps that when his hands instinctively raised to rub over them again the friction sent painful waves of stabs through the touched areas. Hissing he rubbed harder to create more warming friction even if this time it wasn’t helping in the least. With a soft curse Iwaizumi pulled his knees up towards his chest and tried to curl into himself as much as he could with the bookbag still resting on his lap.

“You are cold,” for the first time since, quite literally, running into him, Iwaizumi’s eyes shot up towards the voice in anger, only to be replaced with shock over the fact that Ushijima was no longer standing idly across the room. Instead he was now sitting about a foot away from him on the opposite wall, facing him completely with his body, telling Iwaizumi he’d unknowingly had Ushijima’s direct and full attention the whole time. Quickly covering the shock he scoffed and sent a sneer in his direction.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Ushijima blinked, the stoic expression of his face never changing even as he did not miss a beat in the conversation, if that’s what you could even call it.

“My name is Ushijima, I do not know of this, _Sherlock_ , you are referring to,” Iwaizumi could feel the vein in his forehead, the prominent one that always showed up when his blood was boiling in pure annoyance or anger, sometimes it even showed up in all its blue-tinted glory when he over-concentrating on something, throb back to life once again. H tried, he really did, to keep his voice level and steady when he opened his mouth to speak again.

“I know your name Ushiwaka, and how the fuck, do you not know who Sherlock is? Sherlock Holmes? Classic English novel series, also an English T.V. drama..?” Ushijima just stared at him with even more intensity, if that was even possible, apparently choosing to remain silent this time. With a quick roll of his eyes after a moment of staring at each other, Iwaizumi broke the gaze, pulled his knees back up closer to his chest along with his bag, wrapped his arms around them and laid his chin on the top of them. It provided him a touch more warmth which he was grateful for now that his boiling temper was fading again.

“I do not watch much television,” he flinched, as much as he hated to admit it, when after several minutes ticked by Ushijima’s voice once again filled the stale air between them. Iwaizumi took a minute or two to mentally debate on remaining quiet but, for whatever reason that he couldn’t fathom, soon lifted his head to turn it back in the direction of his companion so he could properly reply. Even if the reply was still a bit of a snarky sounding retort.

“Why, am I not surprised,”

“I cannot determine, with accuracy, what does and does not surprise an individual, such as yourself,” Ushijima took note of how yet another violent shudder ripped through Iwaizumi, effectively stopping him from replying. “You should have brought a jacket, or sweater, with you. It is always best to be prepared,” the vein throbbed, again, but only for a moment as it was cut off by more shivering. Iwaizumi just couldn’t believe that the universe was doing this to him. Of all the people to get locked in with, of all the people to be _lecturing him_ , out of all the bloody people in the world he could slowly freeze to death next to it just had to be this one. Utterly, painfully, unbelievable. He was always the one doing the lecturing, not the other was around, unless it his own mother was involved. Then the lectures almost never stopped, no matter who you are.

“It was hotter than hell when I walked here, plus the dorms are barely a block away so I figured I’d be fine. Plus it’s not like I planned on falling asleep and getting locked in,” he questioned why he was even bothering with the upkeep of this conversation, why he felt the need to explain himself and his actions to the other. It wasn’t like the man was a friend or even someone he liked, and yet Iwaizumi found he couldn’t _not_ reply in some way whenever the other spoke. It was like a growing need to keep going. He chalked it up to his mother who always had a million and one rules on manners and proper etiquette, not responding would definitely fall under at least one of her _’That’s rude Hajime, we do not do rude,’_ lectures. Of course sarcasm and snarky comments also fall under one of those lectures but he is choosing to ignore that particular train thought, at least in this moment of time.

“You could not possibly know the temperature of such a place, so I will assume you are being metaphorical,” Iwaizumi released a disgusting sounding snort from deep within his throat, flinching at the sound of it himself. Ushijima hummed in a disapproving manner, his eyebrows creasing, lips straightening into a thin line, before he continued speaking in the same bored tone he always droned on in. “You still should have been prepared for a sudden weather shift, at the very least prepared for unexpected plan changes,”

“So I should have planned for the unexpected?”

“Precisely,”

“Gee, well sorry I was unprepared _, Mom_ ,” his words dripped heavily with sarcasm, so thickly laid on that it would take an obtuse idiot of mass proportions to miss it. Apparently Ushijima was an obtuse idiot of such proportions. 

Iwaizumi watched intently, with a mix of growing curiosity and wonder, as the mans face shifted and changed in a way he’d never seen before during the numerous times he’d been in Ushijima’s presence. His eyes squinted till they were almost closed, brows creasing so deeply Iwaizumi was tempted to poke the lines that formed like he would to Makki when he thought too hard. Then Iwaizumi’s eyes zoned in on Ushijima’s lips as they went from their stern straight line into a deep, almost adorable pout, the bottom lip jutting and drawing attention to how full they actually were when not forced into the brutal frown he usually wore. The pout did not fit the mans face at all, but somehow the overall image made Ushijima look all the more attractive than he had before. And that realization unnerved Iwaizumi into seizing his muscles into stillness.

“I’m sure your mother is a wonderful and honorable woman, so you should not use her as a sarcastic retort. Of course, I am only assuming you are being sarcastic, and you do not actually believe, as fact, that I am your mother. I never was able to accurately pick out sarcasm while conversing,” still too stunned at the moment from the expression still lingering across Ushijima’s face, Iwaizumi just stared wide eyed and extremely slack jawed. His eyes continuously scanning over the others features, again and again, trying to find any hint to show that he was fucking with him in some way. He found nothing but seriousness and honesty as the eyes drew together in thought as they glanced away from Iwaizumi to stare into their lap. “Tendou and Reon have always helped me with social interactions. I fear I am no good at them, even with those that I am quite familiar with,”

It was the most amount of words Iwaizumi had ever heard him speak. From the way Ushijima blinked and once again flicked now widened eyes up to meet his, Iwaizumi figured he was also surprised he’d spoken that much at once himself. They, once again, sat in the consuming silence of the libraries stilled air, an odd sense of mutual awkwardness resting between them. Every few minutes that ticked by Iwaizumi struggled to suppress the shudders as the temperature seemed to grow chillier faster and faster as the god awful hours of the early morning rolled around. Soon goosebumps were a permanent, noticeable reaction on his exposed skin and the lingering feeling of them was becoming almost painful. 

In the middle of their newest stretch of silence, Ushijima quietly pulled off his hoodie. Revealing a long sleeved white top, that was rather tight fitting, as Iwaizumi accidentally noticed when his eyes fixed on the way the material outlined the dips and curves of the muscle beneath, and simply held it out towards him as an offering. Iwaizumi glared and turned away but found himself continuously looking back. His eyes darted time and time again to the hoodie now just sitting casually in Ushijima’s lap, before coming back up to his, once again overly serious face. Stubborn pride held strong within him, keeping him from taking it and yanking it over his freezing body.

Iwaizumi was brought out of his thought filled brooding, he admits it’s more like childish pouting at this point, by another extremely violent shiver as uncomfortable, painful waves of large goosebumps lifted and spread over every inch of his exposed skin and continued to expand to the covered areas. The shiver this time shot straight through his spine as his hands came up to begin to roughly grind against the already abused skin until a red-pink tinge started coming through his dark tan The harsh friction did finally create a welcome, but extremely short lived, warmth with each rough stroke.

_See, I’m fine. I don’t nee-_

His whole body jerked when, very suddenly, something was thrown at him. It landed against his face before falling on tip of his book bag and knees as he flailed away from the unexpected attack before acting on dumb instinct as one of his hands caught it before it fell to the floor. Blinking rapidly Iwaizumi stared at the hoodie in his hand before flicking up to Ushijima and back down again, much like how he had when he’d been fighting off the urge to grab it when it laid unused in Ushijima’s lap. His thoughts raced, trying to come to terms with the fact that the man had, quite literally, just thrown his sweater at him. 

The calm and collected and ever serious Ushijima, just threw a sweater at him because he refused to take it for himself.

Ushijima wasn’t even looking at him anymore, instead he was also now slouching down on the wall he was leaning on, head tilted back and eyes closed as his chest rose and fell in deep, even breaths. Iwaizumi huffed a bit in amusement as he gave into the warmth seeping against his skin from the hoodie and finally pulled it on. He missed the quick peek and small smirk Ushijima sent him when he caught Iwaizumi’s actions, before his eyes closed and he relaxed against the wall once again, satisfied with the final result of the situation. 

Iwaizumi tried his hardest to ignore just how soft and cozy the sweater felt once he had it pulled on and yanked into place, but a small, appreciative hum escaped as his warming flesh practically melted into it. The blissful heat it provided, most of the warmth from Ushijima’s own body heat still lingering in the material, soaked into his skin as quickly as the chill had set in earlier and soon enough he could feel himself getting hazy with sleep now that he was more comfortable. Not bothering to try and fight off the inevitable, Iwaizumi leaned his head forward onto his bookbag, sliding his knees up one last time ,so he wouldn't wake up with a kink in his neck, and pulled the hood of the sweater over his head. 

Soon enough he fell into a light sleep at the disturbing thought of just how good Ushijima Wakatoshi smelt as the mans scent filled the air around him. Each soft inhale drawing the scent in, imprinting it into his memory as he slept.

_Like Spice and Musk…_

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

Several hours later he was abruptly woken up by one of the students who opens the Library. She looked thoroughly shocked at finding people locked inside and kept bowing and apologizing, stating she would report it to her boss once he arrived. He left his information in case her boss wanted to get in contact with him later and then Iwaizumi was finally heading back to his dorm room, silently hoping Sato, who ran the library, wouldn’t recognize his contact information since it wasn’t the first time he’s had to leave it. He was about halfway home when he realized that not only had Ushijima been gone when he'd been woken up, but he still had his sweater on and the man had left him no way of contacting him to give it back.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

Of course Oikawa found the whole thing hilarious when he brought it up a few nights later during one of their usual video chats. His best friend laughing so hard he has tears streaming down his face as he bent over the computer desk, gripping the sides of his torso and just belting out peels of laughter at Iwaizumi’s expense. Iwaizumi felt minutely less annoyed after Tooru choked on his own saliva due to his laughing fit, but only minutely less annoyed. 

Eventually Tooru regained control over himself and their conversation steered more towards classes and various topics other than Ushiwaka. They tried to keep a few hours every couple days to call, text or video chat with each other, keeping their lives as close to how it used to be when they’d see the other one on a daily basis. It was still odd not actually _seeing_ one another in person and Iwaizumi had to admit he finds himself really missing his shithead best friend lately. Especially when he finds or remembers something and he turns to look for Tooru to tell him about it, but he’s not there. 

Since they’d chosen different Colleges and Oikawa also decided to continue with Volleyball since his goal was to play professionally one day, finding time was always difficult. But they made it work.

It was about halfway through their video call when Iwaizumi spared a glance towards the borrowed sweater that he’d tossed over the top of his laundry basket soon after getting home that night. He half listened to Oikawa drone on about something he learned in his Physics class, not understanding an of what he was saying in the least, when he jerked in surprise before going dead still as his roaming eyes took in the all too familiar purple and white material.

“Iwa-chan!? What’s wrong?” he vaguely registers himself shaking his head as a breathy chuckle mixed with a scoff fell from his lightly grinning lips, not quite believing what his eyes were seeing but knowing it to be the truth all the same. Leaning over on the edge of his chair he picked up the sweater to get a better look at it, spreading out the material across his lap, and confirm the suspicions building in his brain. Sure enough, there in front of him in all its bold lettered glory, was the number _1_ , and above it _Ushijima_. In hysterical laughter, which drew the confused eyes of his roommate who blinked as he pulled a headphone out of one ear to ask if he was okay, Iwaizumi lifted his head to finally meet the concerned face of his best friend.

“That bastard gave me his Shiratorizawa sweater, and I actually _wore_ it.”

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

Iwaizumi didn’t see Ushijima again until almost three months later, much to his annoyance whenever his eyes landed on the offending sweater still in his room, and their unexpected meeting was, once again, in a less than ideal setting. 

In fact, he ran into the man, actually it was Ushijima who ran into him and not literally this time around, when he was in the middle of a date. Which should have been obvious to anyone who looked at them, and yet, it apparently wasn’t in the least bit obvious to the oblivious bull. Because when Ushijima noticed Iwaizumi from the entrance of the restaurant he not only walked directly up to their booth, to which Iwaizumi politely introduced him to his date who looked utterly confused, before turning his full attention to Iwaizumi to start up a conversation. Just like that, no lead up, no invitation, just Ushijima greeting them with a polite bow before jumping straight into what was clearly on his mind.

Iwaizumi’s date looked utterly affronted, looking at him and blinking rapidly up at Ushijima as she tried to figure out what was happening. Iwaizumi had sent her an apologetic look as he tried to find an opening to get Ushijima to shut up and leave, trying to push down his temper and remain calm in the unexpected situation so as not to give her a bad impression of him. But as Ushijima prattled on about the topic he’d chosen to, for whatever reason, bring up again Iwaizumi felt his control slipping.

Of course, the topic of choice was about what he’d started back at the library so long ago, and is also the one topic the man ever seemed to want to talk about. Volleyball, and how Iwaizumi was wasting away his talents by choosing to not joining their schools team or even train since Ushijima has not seen him at the campus gym.

His date quickly ended with his date excusing herself not even ten minutes later with a gentle, but clearly annoyed, smile and a quick flick of her wrist in goodbye. Iwaizumi had tried to escape himself by offering to walk her home but she’d turned him down stating, she’d already texted a friend to come pick her up.

As he’d watched her leave from over Ushijima’s shoulder, the man actually had the gall to take the vacated seat across from him as he continued on his one sided conversation, that Iwaizumi has been trying to block out, he felt his anger and annoyance boiling within the pit of his stomach. The vein threatened to pop out on his forehead, fists becoming clenched so tightly in his lap that the knuckles were white and crescent shaped divots were becoming imprinted in the flesh of his palms. Iwaizumi leaned forward across the table, his mouth opening widely to release some of the built up tension, words forming as his tongue wrapped around them, preparing himself to let Ushiwaka know exactly how rude he’d just been. All the while trying to keep in mind they were in public and he shouldn’t make a scene. 

But then words spilled from the others mouth and effectively cut him off causing him to deadpan with a _Huh?_

“Coffee,” Ushijima repeated himself as if that was all the explanation he needed to give in itself. Iwaizumi remained deadpanned, blinking rapidly over and over again as his words fell and died from his wide open mouth while Ushijima just sat in front of him, hands folded neatly in his lap as he stared right back at him with a just as blank face. For another minute or two his brain tried to sort through the new turn of events. Slowly Iwaizumi’s face relaxed as one thought after another flashed through his mind as the thoughts began to fall into place. 

It was only when his brows were creased together, mouth turned up in thoughtful confusion, hands resting on the table in a relaxed manner, that he finally figured out what the big oaf was trying to say. With a quick, sharp snap of his fingers Iwaizumi’s face relaxed completely into a lazy grin of realization, pointer finger aimed at Ushijima who still sat in the same position, as patient with Iwaizumi’s inner turmoils as ever it seems, while Iwaizumi had processed and sorted it all out.

“Oh! Yeah, okay. I get it, uh, where do you want to meet for coffee?” to his surprise Iwaizumi actually noticed the sudden change on Ushijima’s face before it slipped back into its usual serious, blank state. The mans eyes had widened just the slightest bit, eyebrows and jaw twitched for the briefest of a second. Almost as if Ushijima had been surprised at his willingness.

_Huh, so he can show emotions… But why the hell would he be surprised? Did he honestly think I’d_ want _to keep his hoodie?_

“There is a Cafe about a block away from the gymnasium on campus, do you know of it?”

“The one with the pun for a name?” Iwaizumi rolled his finger around in circles as he fought to think of the name on the tip of his tongue. He remembered it just as Ushijima had been about to say it, Iwaizumi giving him another snap of his fingers when he blurted it out, “Uh, Espresso-Self or something? Right?”

“Yes,” Iwaizumi nodded as he fished out his cell from his jacket pocket, taking note that there was only 15% left on it. Cringing he made a mental note to look into purchasing a battery bank before sliding the device across the surface of the table towards the other. Who just stared at it. “Um, I’m gonna need your number… So we can set up a time to meet up?” he could have sworn he saw the slightest dust of color rise on Ushijima’s cheeks but quickly pushed the thought aside, assuming it was him just seeing things. Just because Ushijima surprised him by the slip of emotion across his face just a few short moments ago doesn’t mean the man could easily blush like that.

After several minutes, and Iwaizumi having to practically demand the others cell in return, they finally exchanged numbers. An awkward silence started to flow between them, which seemed to be the most consistent and normal thing they shared together, when the waitress showed up with the previously ordered meals. 

Iwaizumi could barely contain his bubbling laughter as it began to roll and bubble in the pit of his stomach, quickly covering his mouth with his hand so as not to embarrass the poor girl who looked only 16, when she did a double take at the sight of Ushijima, where a woman had been sitting not too long ago. His eyes crinkled as his smile widened more behind his hand, barely containing a snort, when she realized she was staring and nearly dropped the food as she jerked herself back into reality. Ushijima sat as calmly as ever, staring back at her as if nothing was amiss, and she began to stutter out an apology while her skin turned the reddest shade he’d ever seen on another human being. 

The food was quickly set in front of them and the teenager took off as quickly as she could , trying not to look rude, her face bowed low while she scurried away to the safe haven that was, what Iwaizumi guessed, was either the kitchen or staff area. Only when she was out of sight did Iwaizumi release some of his held back amusement. A long, drawn out, rolling chuckle rumbling through his chest while the hand over his mouth helped to contain the sheer volume of what it could be. A couple tables did turn to stare at him in a mix of annoyance and curiosity, but he ignored their open stares, instead turning to look at Ushijima. The chuckle died to more of a cough when he saw an extremely intense stare being directed at him.

“What?”

“You have a very… Soothing laugh. I find I rather enjoy the sound of it,” heat immediately rose on his cheeks and ears, spreading down his neck towards his chest, at the random compliment as he stuttered.

“Uhm, uh, Thank-thank you?”

Instead of words he received a sharp nod. Iwaizumi returned the nod by rolling his eyes as he turned his attention back to the table, ignoring the slight quickening of his heart rate and the hopefully not too obvious blush ever lingering on his skin, thankful for how tanned he was for once. 

For whatever reason, maybe the compliment threw him off or the amusement was clouding his judgment as it continued rolling through him, Iwaizumi invited Ushijima to stay and eat with him. They ate together in silence, the atmosphere only being minimally awkward this time around. It seemed like in no time they were splitting the bill, at Ushijima’s insistence and standing up to leave. They existed the restaurant together, going their separate ways with a simple bow as goodbye. 

Hours later when Iwaizumi was falling asleep to the sound of his dorm mates keyboard clicking away as he typed, he couldn’t find it in himself to be overly angry over the ruined date.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

They met up for the previously mentioned coffee just a few days later. In his defence, it was supposed to be a meetup with the purpose of giving the sweater back and leave as soon as possible kind of plan, but like every other situation he’s found himself in when it comes to Ushijima Wakatoshi that plan was blown away and altered dramatically within minutes. 

Iwaizumi had arrived just as the clock on his phone changed to their agreed time, mentally running through his mothers lecture on how _‘Being on time means you are late,’_ , vaguely wondering if Ushijima would say the same thing when he finds him, it seemed, to him at least, like something Ushijima would say. Huffing out a hurried breath he side stepped around a couple exiting the coffee shop before entering the building himself. Immediately he was welcomed by the warmth and hum of the machines along the wall behind the counter as well as the mouth watering smell of freshly baked dough and warmed sugar toppings mixed in with the bitter, tang of freshly brewed coffee. It left him craving a cinnamon roll, the scent reminding him of making them during Summer vacations with his Aunt and Grandma when he was a kid. But he was on a mission, and dammit, he planned on sticking to it this time.

It wasn’t hard to zone in on the person he was there to meet. Much like he’d come to expect from him, Ushijima was sitting at a booth facing the entrance where he could be easily spotted by anyone entering into the coffee shop. The bright red shirt he wore today, that Iwaizumi grudgingly noticed not only drew your attention but also brought out the odd olive tone in his brown hair making it look like he dyed it, but that didn’t seem like something he would do. Mentally brushing aside the now burning question in his mind about whether or not the color was, in fact, natural or the product of a bottle, Iwaizumi strolled over to stand next to Ushijima rather than joining him in the booth.

In quick, fluid motions Iwaizumi pulled out the freshly washed and folded Shiratorizawa hoodie, pushing it towards Ushijima. Taking a sudden breath inwards he hurried through the practiced speech he’d prepared, only because he’d been dumb enough to tell his mom about the whole incident and she’d gone off on one of her long winded lectures about how he hasn’t thanked the guy properly yet. He’d begun putting it together when they’d confirmed the meet up through short, to the point texts. Bowing his head low as the words slipped out Iwaizumi tried to pretend he wasn’t bowing and thanking his high school rival.

“Thank you for lending me your sweater when I was unprepared, it was a great kindness on your part to help me out when I was in need. Please do not hesitate to ask for a favor in return at anytime,” rising from his bow, Iwaizumi fought back the horrendous blush trying to warm his face when he noticed that several workers behind the counter were openly staring at him. One of them at least trying to hide his grinning by covering his mouth, even if he was still looking directly at him. Sighing, his eyes looked everywhere but at Ushijima, hands beginning to shake with effort as he continued to hold the article of clothing towards the other. 

Ushijima carefully, finally, took the sweater from Iwaizumi’s outstretched hands. He didn’t plan on looking at Ushijima at all, just thanking him once more with an added bow to appease his mother, then turning on his heels and getting the hell out of there. That had been the plan, the mission, until he felt the burning hot touch of Ushijima’s hand cover his own in a rather gentle manner. Flinching, Iwaizumi’s eyes immediately reacted on instinct by flicking up to connect with the ones boring holes into his. 

An agonizingly slow brush of calloused skin over the back of his hand, the friction brought forth a shiver through him, leaving behind an odd hot-cold trail. There was no need for their hands to touch, at all, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care about the unnecessary intimacy of it. Iwaizumi’s breath hitched with each quick intake as his heart rate began to increase with each ticking second. He felt as if he was melting within the intense gaze that held almost his complete attention, the hands still basically cupping his own holding the rest. It was then that Iwaizumi realized Ushijima’s eyes were not only that weird olive-green shade that matched his hair, but they also held swirls of a deep brown and tiny flecks of gold near the center by the iris.

_Woah…_

Just as suddenly as the moment began, it ended. Ushijima pulled away and motioned for Iwaizumi to sit down in the empty chair across from him. He obliged the movement in a daze, thumping heavily into it as a whoosh of air left his lungs, letting his back fall to the floor between his legs. His breaths coming in and out more normally now that they were no longer touching, but his heart rate continued to pound heavily within his chest cavity. 

He watched as Ushijima carefully set the hoodie in his Gym bag before zipping it up, thankful for the short moment of not being held captive by the mans staring. Iwaizumi blinked a few times, inhaling deeply and releasing it in an attempt to calm his rapidly beating heart before it burst out of his chest. His brain struggled to understand what just happened, understand why a simple brush of their hands and eye contact had created such an extreme reaction on him. 

Gulping audibly, his eyes quickly flicked up to look at Ushijima once again just as he was turning his focus back onto Iwaizumi. When he was asked what kind of drink he’d like, Iwaizumi didn’t even think twice about whether he should answer or not, his mouth opened and the words just flowed out in one smooth motion. Ushijima pushed himself to stand and left to get their order. 

Ushijima had somehow ruined Iwaizumi’s plan of dumping and ditching within minutes of their meetup. They sat at the table for a few hours, passing slightly awkward small talk back and forth. The longer they talked, though, it seemed as if Ushijima relaxed and opened up a bit more, his words and actions seeming less forced, and Iwaizumi found that he was actually okay with this sudden turn of events.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

It was, quite plainly, obvious from the beginning of their newly established… friendship?.. that Ushijima wasn’t the annoying jerk he grew to think he was. The man was actually just awkward in any kind of social setting as he’d stated himself back at the library so long ago.

When he wasn’t around a larger group of people, was instead in a very small group of those who know him well, he became quite relaxed and, oddly, talkative. Even funny at times, shocking the hell out of Iwaizumi with a well placed pun or humorous comment. Some of them left him covering his mouth quickly to stifle the snorts of quick laughter that wanted to escape up his throat and past his lips. Despite their new form of relationship Iwaizumi still wasn’t willing to give Ushijima the satisfaction of know he was amusing at times or give him the knowledge that Iwaizumi was kinda, maybe, sorta warming up to the big, dumb oaf.

There is one night Iwaizumi knows he will never forget, actually he just doesn’t _want_ to forget it. It was the first time he had agreed to go out to dinner with Ushijima, Tendou and Reon. He wasn’t even sure what prompted him to agree to the night out in the first place, even found himself clutching his cell several times that day while seriously debating on how to get out of it without coming across as rude. He even had to plug the device in at one point, nearly killing the battery from turning it on and off and just staring and the blank text screen too often. 

In the end he decided that not going wasn’t an option since he’d already agreed to go, confirming the time on several occasions the previous day, and he wasn’t the type of person to turn around and bail on plans, with anyone, no matter how much he may not want to go. It’s not how his mother has raised him and he wasn’t going to go back on that now. Besides, he could always stay for an hour or two and politely excuse himself with a simple ’ _early morning, need sleep_ ’, as it was a believable, legitimate excuse that wouldn’t come across as rude at all.

So he’d gone. 

He’d showed up early, gotten past the awkward re-introductions… and then he’d actually enjoyed himself. Even staying until all four of them mutually decided to split up and head home before it got any later than it already was. Iwaizumi had taken quick glance around the restaurant at that suggestion, seeing the very obvious lack of customers had been a telling sign that it was a lot later than he’d planned to be out with this group and the restaurant was nearing closing time. 

They waved and split up, Tendou and Reon heading for the train station, Ushijima heading the opposite direction of him to walk the two blocks to his place and Iwaizumi going straight. He debated on calling a cab, but it was such a clear, if not a bit cold, night that he set a slow pace in the direction of home instead. It wasn’t too far, about four blocks away, and he’d walked much further before when training, plus it would save him some money which was always a plus in his books.

Iwaizumi found himself walking home, smiling brightly, almost oblivious to the cool night air nipping at the exposed skin of his face and neck as his mind replayed the events of the past few hours over and over like a sports channel replay. He’d learned that Reon was a childhood friend of Ushijima’s, they’d met back in middle school when they’d both joined the Shiratorizawa Volleyball team. Iwaizumi warmed up to him quickly, his open and relaxed nature causing him to become comfortable and have fun much faster than he’d expected. He’d been pleasantly surprised, and extremely excited if he’s being honest, when Reon admitted he was also a Godzilla fan. 

A large, toothy grin became plastered across his face at the memory of learning that near the end of dinner. He would have to message Reon soon now that he had a fellow Zilla fan to geek out with. Tooru, Makki and Mattsun always amused him when he got ranting about his favorite movie character, the whole smile and nod bit. But now he had someone he not only got along with, but also borderline obsessed over it much like himself, if the groans from _both_ Ushijima and Tendou were anything to go by.

Tendou was… A whole other entity. Iwaizumi found it difficult to dislike him, he honestly reminded him of Tooru with his antics and a few of his mannerisms that he presented in the few short hours they had to get to know each other. Yet it was also really difficult to say that he liked the guy as well. He was loud, his movements kind of freaked him out as they were jerky and twitchy. Plus the dude liked to break out in songs, of his own making as he conversed with you, and just the way he always seemed to understand what you were going to say or do right before you did it... Tendou Satori was an oddity that Iwaizumi had no idea what to think of as a whole. Thankfully when he got too hyper, or unstable from what it looked like to him, Reon was able to calm him down to a dealable energy with a few calm words and a small smile. 

Yes, Reon was definitely a blessing. He doubted he’d have been able to handle both Tendou and Ushijima alone.

Through the dinner Iwaizumi also learned a few more surprising facts about Ushijima. Apparently, thanks to Tendou, he enjoyed reading a wide variety of manga. Even if it was mostly for the advertisements. Ushijima also had two older siblings. Both live and work in the states, where his father also apparently was, and despite the distance he still maintained a rather close relationship with both of them. Soon after learning about them he also discovered they were both older sisters and only a year separated each of the siblings. 

Reon had quickly whispered to him, when Ushijima had excused himself to go to the bathroom, that Ushijima’s family is extremely traditional, that they had the siblings so close together because they wanted a boy. A few years after he was born his parents had divorced and Ushijima’s dad then moved to the states not long after that. It was honestly a bit of an information overload, it would be for anyone, and he wasn’t sure why Reon had felt the need to explain, but Iwaizumi assumed it was so he wouldn’t bring it up. After all, it was probably a sore spot for Ushijima. It would be for him. Despite learning all this in one night and feeling a bit overwhelmed by it, it gave Iwaizumi a whole new outlook on Ushijima. 

He arrived home, to his dorm room, feeling happy and, oddly enough, kind of giddy over the new relationships he was gaining. Especially with none other than Ushijima Wakatoshi. He didn’t even mind it all that much when he found his drunk, passed out roommate flopped across his bed instead of his own. His night had been to enjoyable for it to ruin his mood.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

After the dinner they ended up having several more impromptu meet ups and Iwaizumi found himself seeing more and more of Ushijima on a semi-regular basis. They were together almost as often as he and Tooru used to be. 

About once a week they would end up getting together for a few hours, whether it was a movie or grabbing another coffee or even ending up back at the campus library where they would sit in mutual silence and study, just kind of enjoying the comfortable companionship they seemed to give each other. It surprised him just how relaxed he slowly but surely became around Ushijima in such a short amount of time. He hasn’t become this close to someone this fast since the day he met Tooru, back when they were around five or six, and even that had been rocky in the beginning and definitely not as relaxing and easy as this felt. He’s not even sure exactly how it was happening so smoothly, as if they had actually been friends for years instead of a grand total of six months. 

Each time they met up it was always just casual things that revolved around getting to know each other without it being too personal. Which is an odd thing to say, he admits, since the process of getting to know someone is obviously getting personal with another person to at least some degree, but with Ushijima it felt more like an extremely slow trickle of information that leaked through the serious, sternness aura surrounding him. 

Neither one had been to each others place yet, it was always grabbing coffee between classes at Espresso-Self, which had quickly become their go-to place, or catching a lecture on something they both showed an interest in on campus. There was also a few more dinners or lunches with Ushijima’s friends or teammates. He’d even convinced Makki to join them a few times. He’d been happy, yet slightly terrified, when Makki and Tendou hit it off and seemed to be starting their own weird form of friendship, especially when Tendou started telling Makki about the prank war he had going on with his neighbor in the dorm house he lived in.

Mattsun was usually too busy to join but had promised him he’d let him know when his next day off between classes and his job was. Mattsun was the only one out of them that hadn’t received a scholarship of some form so he had to work whenever he wasn’t studying or in classes. Like Iwaizumi he’d also decided not to continue with Volleyball, focusing more on school. 

Tooru was none too thrilled about his newfound relationship with Ushijima and was pretty vocal about it in the beginning. But, after an argument that led to them not talking for a week, even through texts, they’d come to an agreement. Tooru wouldn’t make negative comments towards Ushijima and Iwaizumi would stop talking about him immediately if he was asked to. It saddened him that his best friend was upset with him, all because of another person, but he understood how he felt towards Ushijima and he would never push it on him. Same as even though Tooru was upset about it, he would never try to get him to end the friendship or come between him and Ushijima. 

As much as Iwaizumi hated Tooru being upset with him was as much as Tooru hated him being unhappy, and not being friends with Ushijima would definitely count as something that would make him unhappy now. Although, he wonders when those kind of feelings developed.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

As their friendship grew more in depth, Iwaizumi found himself slowly gaining the ability to tell the differences between Ushijima’s moods and thoughts. The mans face barely changed but all it would take was a twitch of his brows a certain way, or a quick raise of one another. Even a lip quirk was starting to be all he needed to know. 

It wasn’t as if Iwaizumi suddenly cracked the code to know all of Ushijima’s secrets, but it was something new that made it all the more easier to know who the other was inside. It was becoming more and more satisfying to know his normally too serious friend was opening up and trusting Iwaizumi enough to allow him to even notice these differences. Iwaizumi also found it extremely satisfying to know just how wrong he’d been in his impressions of Ushijima back in high school. Even his obsession with Tooru was misinterpreted, although he still believes someone like Ushijima could have gone about the whole thing a lot better than he had.

Ushijima, literally, just wanted what he felt was best for his old team, and the best setter in his eyes was Oikawa Tooru. Ushijima’s, now obvious, appreciation of Tooru’s talents made him respect his new friend more. Iwaizumi felt comfortable sharing numerous memories of their past with him now, especially talking freely about how much he admired his best friend on how determined and focused he is on bettering himself in their sport. Even if the dumbass overworked himself, especially his knee, and spent too many hours staying awake watching playthroughs of old games or studying various techniques instead of sleeping.

Although he knows about this now, and that Ushijima wasn’t just being a stalking dickhead, Iwaizumi also knows that fact would never fix the gap between Ushijima and Tooru. There was just too much history and rivalry there and he worries for the day when they actually need to work together as teammates. They’re both striving the same goals after all, and them meeting, having to come together on the same side of the net was ultimately inevitable. 

Sighing as he pushed away the thoughts of the seemingly far off future, Iwaizumi focused on the now instead. His eyes easily lifting, finding Ushijima across the table, silently watching as his features fractionally shifted while he read an advertisement in a manga volume Tendou had lent him. Mouth moving slowly, mouthing along with the words as he read them. Iwaizumi cracked a small, soft, and fond smile before sipping his over-sugared coffee, carefully so as not to burn his mouth. For right now, he just enjoyed the comfortable atmosphere they provided each other.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

It was probably around eight or nine months after their meeting for coffee that Iwaizumi started to notice the extent of just _how_ comfortable Ushijima had gotten around him, and just how comfortable he’d gotten around Ushijima.

He’d noticed that when Ushijima was around those he considered himself very close with he wasn’t only more talkative or open with interactions, he was also prone to _touching_. Not that Iwaizumi minded it, he grew up with Tooru after all and that man was clingier than saran wrap on a good day. He just wasn’t quite, used to someone he’s barely known a year to freely touch him as casually and comfortably as Ushijima started to.

The casual touches shared between them grew more frequent over time until it became just another part of their usual routine when together. Especially when Iwaizumi started to go over to Ushijima’s apartment, apparently a graduation gift from his mom on the agreement he finishes school before going for the National team, or when Ushijima would be relaxing with him in his dorm room. 

A hand brush here, a shoulder bump there as the walked, even a few high fives, which he came to understand was the influence of Reon, had happened over the past few months. But nothing more than that, nothing to suggest that anything special or beyond a normal friendship was formed. Definitely nothing close to how he was with Matsukawa and Hanamaki, those two barely understood personal boundaries sometimes even making Tooru look innocent, and nothing can compare to the kind of friendship he has with Tooru. 

No, the kind of thing he and Ushijima had going was relaxed, comfortable, even a bit fragile due to the newness of it all. So it was quite surprising, to him anyways as he’s not sure exactly how the other felt on the matter, when after a few months of casually hanging out at one or the others apartment, that Iwaizumi accidentally went further than what one might consider casual. It truly was an accident, he can’t even call it a mistake, since his body only reacted automatically on instinct, without hesitation, just moving with years of muscle memory from dealing with Tooru.

Iwaizumi had just gotten off work, hilariously he’d been hired at Espresso-Self just a month ago, about an hour prior to going over to Ushijima’s. They’d ended up deciding to watch some odd movie playing on the T.V.. He wasn’t particularly interested in it, honestly he wasn’t even sure what the movie was, his brain focusing more so on the long day he’d had, the exhaustion he’d been fighting since the afternoon was swiftly catching up to him and setting in _hard_. 

Ushijima had asked several times since meeting him at the coffee shop entrance after his shift, like he usually did if he was going over to Ushijima’s after work so they could walk and talk together, if he’d prefer just going home to sleep. Iwaizumi had refused, even mustering up smiles in reassurance that he fine. Now that he was actually there and lounging across Ushijima’s, way too bloody comfortable, couch he partially regrets not going straight home instead.

It was obvious just looking at him that he was the complete image of an exhausted man. Eyes drooping and darkened beneath with steadily developing bags from the new job added into his schedule of studying and long classes. His head lazing in one of his hands as he leaned heavily against the arm rest while the rest of him slouched down low into the cushioned surface beneath him. Iwaizumi knew it was rude to sit like this in someone elses home when he was a guest, but his brain wasn’t fully with him at the moment and it reasoned with him that he could hardly call himself a regular sort of guest at Ushijima’s. 

They were together at each others places at least twice a week now, sometimes three of four times a week depending on their schedules. He’d even slept over a few times and probably would have tonight if Ushijima hadn’t of lent Reon his guest futon. 

In his sleepy state, Iwaizumi’s mind slipped into the memory of the first time he’d spent the night with Ushijima in his apartment. It had been planned, they were helping each other study for exams and wanted to make the most of their hours so it only made sense to stay over. Surprisingly Iwaizumi hadn’t even been nervous with the idea, even if the atmosphere had an awkward edge to it the whole time. 

Ushijima had even made him Agedashi Tofu. When he’d exclaimed it was his favorite Ushijima had surprised him by saying that was why he’d made it. After some questioning, which the man had avoided answering for several minutes with what looked a lot like a gentle blush across his cheeks, Ushijima had finally admitted that Makki had offered up the information when he’d asked. It had been Iwaizumi’s turn to sport what looked like a blush that went all the way down his neck and up to his ears. He’d coughed and, as casually as he could, asked Ushijima what his favorite food was and he’d been surprised to find out it was an western style curry.

The conversation had been more quiet from there, especially when Iwaizumi refused to sit still and ended up helping prepare their supper by chopping vegetables for the stir-fry as Ushijima cooked the tofu and prepared the sauce for the vegetables. The worked mostly in silence, their blushed remaining on their faces. Ushijima’s apartment was larger than most, but was still designed for just one person so the both of them in the kitchen together took up a lot of the free space. They had to stand so close to each other that their elbows bumped when on needed to move, their arms continuously radiating heat between them and making Iwaizumi vastly aware of the man standing beside him. He picked up on each rustle of material as they moved, the sound echoing in the air sounding much louder than it actually was.

And then Ushijima went to reach for the chopped vegetables Iwaizumi had set aside, out of his way so her could do up more. The space was so small that Ushijima had, without a second thought or any hesitation whatsoever, brought his hand up to grip Iwaizumi’s hip as he leaned forward. Iwaizumi’s whole body froze, his complete attention focusing on the spot where Ushijima’s hand rested. The whole movement lastly maybe a minute, probably less, but it seemed as if his whole existence suddenly became about that seemingly innocent touch.

The heat that seeped through his thin shirt from Ushijima’s hand felt as if it was burning hot iron, branding him where it lingered on him. He felt each flex and twitch on each digit as Ushijima moved and he suddenly became aware of just how big those hands were. He gulped down the building dryness in his throat and mouth but it didn’t help, instead made it far worse. Iwaizumi could feel his nerves vibrating, his heart pounding over and over and over again against his ribs so hard and fast that he felt the urge to check and make sure it wasn’t pushing out of his chest. 

And then it was over.

Ushijima moved away, his hand leaving Iwaizumi’s hip feeling suddenly ice cold. Blinking a few times he gulped again, this time his saliva chasing away the desert dry feeling. Iwaizumi’s eyes side glanced at his friend who seemed unaware of any inner turmoil he was experiencing, focusing intensely on frying the vegetables. He forced himself to intake a shuddered breath as he went back to finish chopping up what was left. Forced himself to push away the thought of how he wished the touch had lasted longer, and how he missed the feeling of it there...

Iwaizumi’s eyes had closed, having drifted shut to lose himself in the memory, by the time Ushijima settled in next to him on the couch. The sudden weight causing his body to shift him closer to the other. He didn’t bother opening his eyes, beyond the point of caring whether or not he fell asleep where he was sitting. They sat in their usual, comfortable silence for the better part of an hour, Iwaizumi drifting on and out of consciousness, sometimes a soft snore escaping past his open lips which is what kept waking him up with a start. At one point Ushijima had offered him his bed to sleep in for a few hours if he wished, refusing to allow him to walk home in such a hazy state. But Iwaizumi had simply shaken his head and leaned a bit heavier into Ushijima’s side, unsure of when he’d moved from leaning on the armrest, as he slipped into sleep once again while mumbling about how he didn’t want to go home. 

In light of the events to come, he should have accepted the offer. It would have saved him the sense of embarrassment he would come to feel in the near future whenever his mind drifted to this night no matter how many times he tried to ignore and push it away.

The first time something other than one of his snores woke him from the light slumber he was in, Iwaizumi barely registered the feeling of someone leaning completely into his side and someone’s head fell against his own. Sucking in a deep breath, releasing it into a content sigh, he gave into his instinct willingly and shifted until his arm snaked around the broad shoulders next to him, pulling until the warm body more fully against him then using his hand to pull the head till it dropped into the crook of his shoulder. It was something he’d done with Tooru for years, something that became a natural reaction whenever they ended up passing out on either on of their beds or couches during a sleepover, so Iwaizumi didn’t think anything of the practiced movements. His eyes remaining closed.

The hand lingering on the others head slid up and carded through their hair. Slowly and gently, he massaged the scalp under his fingertips, letting his blunt nails scritch at the skin with every couple movements. Iwaizumi mentally noted that Tooru’s hair felt different tonight. The usually soft but slightly greasy, _from my hair oil Iwa-chan! I don’t have time for conditioner in the shower so this keeps it soft!_ , strands were a bit more coarse and it felt thinner, his fingers didn’t tangle in the usual thick mass of it. His sleep addled mind assuming that Tooru forgot to use his hair oil and probably just got his hair thinned during a haircut, even if that made no sense. 

The person beneath his touch groaned happily at the movements, pulling a light grin across Iwaizumi’s lips.

Despite the fact that there were, very obvious, inconsistencies and telling signs that it was in fact, **not** his best friend, that Iwaizumi was all but fully cuddling with, Iwaizumi continued his actions and even leaned further into the comforting heat surrounding him. In response the man leaned back against Iwaizumi until they both laid against the seat of the couch, the other half laying on top of him while curling a leg between his and keeping their head nuzzled into Iwaizumi’s shoulder. Both released a content filled sigh, breath mixing together hotly when Iwaizumi turned his head towards the other. His fingers still continuing to move through the persons hair though it was much lazier movements now. It wasn’t long after laying down that he slipped into the heaviness of sleep.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

Someone was calling his name. Someone was risking their life by calling his name over and over again in an annoying soft, deep voice while gentle shaking his shoulder to lull him from the blissfulness that was his sleep. 

Iwaizumi slapped the disturbance away, scrunching his face up when he couldn’t roll away. Something was blocking him from getting away from the jerk who was waking him up from one of the deepest, most comfortable sleeps he can remember having in a long time. When the voice and hands persisted Iwaizumi’s brain forced him to wake up enough to listen to the words the person was saying.

“Hajime? You cannot sleep on the couch, it is bad for ones health,” he’s pretty sure he replied at one point with a _F’ek ‘ff_ but he honestly can’t remember. He does, however, remember someone pulling him into a sitting position in one fluid motion as he refused to open his eyes, mostly out of pure stubbornness and childish refusal to wake up just yet, and he remembers the broken wording of the person offering to let him sleep over in their bed if he was fine with it. If Iwaizumi had been more awake, which is his own fault, he would have realized that Ushijima was the voice and he was offering for Iwaizumi to sleep in his bed _with_ him. 

But to anyone who knows him, a sleepy Iwaizumi registers nothing of importance, outside of getting more sleep, until he wakes up on his own. So with the promise of undisturbed sleep in a comfy bed Iwaizumi allowed the deeply timbred voice lull him into standing and walking in what he guessed was the direction of the aforementioned bed. 

It was a short walk, with Iwaizumi leaning heavily into the person who had a firm arm around his waist, a hand encircling his arm to guide him. Soon enough he was being gently pushed into laying on top of a firm mattress. A happy, long winded sigh mixed with a blissed out groan as he shifted to lay on his stomach, one hand grasping unsuccessfully for the blanket he was still laying on. Somewhere on the other side of him a gentle, amused chuckle was heard before a weight dipped and shook the bed. Another hand suddenly aided him in yanking the blanket out from under him, though it took a lot of effort because he refused to sit back up, before the soft material was thrown over his shoulders. Iwaizumi relaxed into the firm pillow under his head, burrowing and nuzzling against it until it hugged him just right while and arm slid underneath it.

He was out again and snoring softly by the time Ushijima returned from the bathroom, now only wearing his favorite pair of sweatpants. Tossing the dirty clothes into the hamper near the bed he stopped to take in the image of Iwaizumi sleeping peacefully on the other side of his bed. The sight caused an odd, confusing, feeling to rise and spread throughout his body. Similar to, but much more intense, than the feeling he’d gotten when he’d seen Iwaizumi in his school hoodie. He would have to ask Reon about it the next time he talked with him.

Despite being annoyed at not understanding what the feelings he found himself having the longer he was with Iwaizumi, Ushijima felt relaxed all the same. 

After one more sweep of his eyes over the other, he softly crept over and slowly slid himself onto the mattress. He moved carefully so as not to jostle and disturb Iwaizumi again, the man clearly became annoyed at being woken up if the previous scene was any sign to that fact. Once settled in enough he leaned over and clicked off the bedside lamp, shuffling himself further down on his back as one arm rested over his stomach and the other by his side. After a few moments of listening to Iwaizumi’s deep, even breathing Ushijima inched the arm by his side over until it barely brushed against Iwaizumi’s side and the bent elbow of his arm that was curled up by his face.

Ushijima fell asleep to the lulling heat against his arm, the barest hint of a smile across his lips.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

Iwaizumi was only slightly confused when he woke up the next morning in a bed he didn’t recognize. Sleep hazed eyes blinking away at the glaring sun as it burned his vision, logic told him to simply turn to face the other way but his brain was still too tired to comply to that request just yet. Swallowing a few times Iwaizumi tried to add moisture back into his mouth so he wouldn’t be forced to get out of the, rather comfortable, strangers bed just yet to get a glass of water. His hands bunched into the blanket bunched over his waist, yanking it up till it covered most of his back and his hand that now fisted the material was curled up in front of his face. 

Releasing a huff of contentment Iwaizumi settled into the warmth that surrounded him as he breathed in deeply. Another sighed hum fell out of him when his brain recognized the smell of Ushijima.

_Like Spice and Musk…_

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

He remained in what was apparently Ushijima’s bed for at least another half hour, not really caring about how lazy he was being or how rude it was. Hell, he didn’t even know if Ushijima was home at the moment. A warming blush crept over him as his slowly waking mind flashed through the memories of last night, heart skipping a few beats at the realizations of just how intimate and domestic their friendship was becoming. He should feel more bothered by it all, but some part of him kept creeping up and telling him it was fine, that he was actually okay and comfortable with all of this. 

Once he was sufficiently awake enough to properly function, Iwaizumi pushed himself to sit up up, twisting around off of his stomach so he could sit up properly with his back hitting the headboard. His fingers dug out the crust of sleep from the corners of his eyes while a small yawn fell from his still too dry mouth. Swallowing again after a minute he blinked the room into focus. 

It was rather plain in decoration, the essentials basically being the only things in the room minus a picture frame sitting on the desk on the opposite side of where he was and a little, potted succulent next to it. There was also a few awards and certificates on the desk and dresser, no doubt all relating to Volleyball. From where he was sitting Iwaizumi could make out most of the framed picture facing him. It was a photo of Ushijima standing in between two, obviously tall, women. The one on his left shared the shame shade of odd olive-brown hair Ushijima sported, finally answering his silently lingering questioning of whether it was natural or bottle, the long waves falling past her shoulders. The one to his right, however, had hair so black it looked as if someone had taken a marker to it, the facial features he could make out the only indication she was related to Ushijima. 

_They must be his sisters…_

Iwaizumi finally slid out of the bed, stretching out his lagging limbs, groaning loudly when a few joints popped and cracked with the forced strein, an unfortunate result of years of abuse on them. Once satisfied they were loose enough to move he strolled out of the room. Slowly padding his way down the, honestly, too familiar hallway, Iwaizumi locked his eyes in the direction of the living room. He was almost to the desired area when his ears picked up on what oddly sounded like the American kids show Looney Toons, the voice of the bunny ringing loud and clear through the air.

His younger cousins enjoyed watching the show whenever he babysat, the only reason he’d be able to identify it as clearly as he was. Pausing, he stopped, straining his ears to listened, not quite believing that he was hearing what he believed he was hearing. But sure enough Iwaizumi was able to pick up on the famous line _’What’s up Doc?’_.

Coming around the corner in a swift motion that left him sliding along the wood floor with his socks. Iwaizumi was not, in any way shape or form, prepared for the sight laying out clearly in front of him. It left him so slack jawed and wide eyed that if he could see himself, Iwaizumi probably would have laughed his ass off. 

Sitting in the middle of the couch, which triggered very clear memories of them cuddling on it last night, with his legs crossed underneath him was Ushijima. The man had a horrible case of bedhead, was clad in only a pair of faded Grey sweats, and was happily, innocently munching on a spoonful of, what appeared to be Shreddies, cereal. All while watching an American cartoon.

_Oh my god, he was, no is, one of those kids that actually watches Sunday morning cartoons. Ushijima, fucking, Wakatoshi watches Sunday morning cartoons._

Iwaizumi didn’t even have enough time to be mind blown about the newest discovered, and kind of adorable, fact. His eyes connected with the clock hanging above the T.V. and a curse slipped out. He’d slept in too long and now he had an hour to get ready for his afternoon shift. Cursing his responsibilities again Iwaizumi rushed around to gather his things before he was late. 

It was unfortunately a very slow day at work, which left Iwaizumi daydreaming and spacing out for almost his whole shift. Constantly coming back to the image of Ushijima watching the Looney Toons while sitting on his couch like an over excited child seeing his favorite show, remembering and lingering on the fact that he cuddled and then slept next to the man; practically reliving the past few months with him in all of five hours, trying to understand what was happening to him. Whatever was going on, he needed to figure it out soon. Before his constantly fluctuating emotions and thoughts consumed him.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

He’d thought it would be tense or at the very least, extremely awkward between them after the cuddling and sleeping together, but somehow it wasn’t. Sure he was a little embarrassed and the pink that would stain the skin of his ears and across the bridge of his nose was something Iwaizumi struggled to control whenever he found himself thinking about it; becoming even worse when Ushijima was around or they made eye contact. But the way the other acted didn’t change in the slightest. In fact, it was as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It was as if Iwaizumi touching him in the way he had, was an everyday thing like it actually had been with Tooru growing up.

Except it didn’t feel the same way, as it had with his best friend, at all. It felt much more intimate, more domestic, which was crazy...

Slowly he relaxed back into their normal routine, convincing himself he was imagining things. But their usual routine suddenly came with one, slight, alteration. Whenever they were sitting close together, no matter what they were doing or where they were, Ushijima would lean into Iwaizumi’s side. If they were lounging around watching T.V., or if Iwaizumi was studying and Ushijima was sitting next to him, he would end up with Ushijima’s head leaning into his shoulder as his fingers curled and massaged into his scalp. After the first time he found himself doing it fully conscious as if it was nothing, as if his previous embarrassment hadn’t even happened.

It became so casual, so regular of a thing that once when Ushijima laid his head against one of Iwaizumi’s thighs while they were relaxing on Iwaizumi’s bed, he continued looking over his essay for mistakes as, without even blinking, he slid his fingers into the short strands. Even when Ushijima fell asleep he continued his movements, his hand laying on top of the crown of Ushijima’s head, fingers slowly, gently carding into the thin locks and only moving away to flip to the next page he needed to read through. After awhile he noticed his roommate staring at them with an odd expression on his face, almost a soft, curiosity filled kind of expression. Iwaizumi just lifted and eyebrow in question, receiving a lighthearted shrug and grin before the guy turned back to his cellphone, and he returned to his essay. 

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

“So, how long have you been dating Ushijima anyways?” Iwaizumi sent Makki a confused look, eyebrows drawn together and mouth opening slightly in question. They were video chatting tonight, having cancelled the plans with Ushijima and Tendou. Tendou had accidentally deleted his essay and needed to pull an all nighter to finish it by tomorrow and Ushijima had a project coming up that needed more research. He and Makki could have still gone out to the movie they’d plan on seeing. But both agreed that lounging around in their sweats, pigging out on the secret stashes of self indulgent junk food while talking through a screen from the comforts of their own rooms sounded like a much better plan for their Saturday night.

“‘M not? I mean, we’re not. We’re not dating. What makes you think we’re dating?” he felt his heart skip as a cold rush flowed through him, as if someone poured chilled water over his head. He’d honestly been thinking the same thing on and off lately, but it was impossible. Ushijima had never stated wanting to date him, never made any sort of move in that direction. They were just, very, close friends.

“Oh… Am I not supposed to know or something?” Makki looked seriously shocked, which further confused Iwaizumi as he continued to stare at the grossly pixelated image in front of him. He didn’t have time to repeat the words though, as Makki continued speaking. “It’s fine, y’know. I don’t mind you dating him, if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean, it’s fucking weird, you gotta admit it’s fucking weird dude. Like, it’s _Ushiwaka_! But, if he makes you happy **fuck it** , ‘m I right?”

“Makki… We’re seriously _not_ dating,”

“What?” it was the others turn to be confused, Makki deadpanning, and they both sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, just staring at each other through the computer screens. Until Makki’s face instantly changed, bursting into rolling, hysterical laughter. The sound of it echoing through the room before bouncing back into to his ears. Iwaizumi realized then that he missed the sound of it, reminded him of the long, tiring practices back home when Makki and Mattsun would successfully pull off some prank against Tooru. Or when they’d be studying at one of their places after school and they’d convince Tooru he had an answer wrong, which he obviously didn’t, and Tooru would rage and cry over it for hours trying to understand how he was wrong while they kept up the charade. Iwaizumi suddenly realized just how much they all seemed to enjoy fucking with Tooru.

He was brought out of his trail of memories by the sudden appearance of Mattsun on his screen, the square popping up beside Makki.

“Matt-” a snort fell from Makki’s lips as he covered his mouth with his hand, wiping away the tears falling from his eyes with the other. Mattsun greeted Iwaizumi with an amused, lazy grin, simply pointing in the direction of Makki as one eyebrow lifted in question. Iwaizumi shook his head and shrugged, still confused over the whole ordeal. 

A hacking cough from Makki brought their full attention back on him.

“Oh, okay, whew. I think I’m-” another disgusting sounding cough and quick wipe of the tears with the back of his hand, “I think I’m good. Okay, um. Mattsun, dude. Y’gotta help me out here,” Mattsun hummed as the grin grew wide enough for a brief flash of white teeth to be seen. 

“What’s up?” 

“Iwai-chan doesn’t think he’s dating Ushiwaka,” Iwaizumi sent Makki a glare for the use of his childhood nickname but there was no real heat behind it. Tooru would be annoyed if he heard him say it, because for some reason he believes he has some kind of claim over saying it, but Iwaizumi knows that Makki and Mattsun only ever use it on him when they’re teasing him and not trying to bug Tooru. At least not usually.

Mattsun’s face deadpanned, almost hilariously in how fast it dropped, much like Makki’s had as he turned to stare intensely at Iwaizumi. Makki burst into another round of hysterics but it was less in volume and effect this time, muffled by the sleeves of the shirt he wore when he covered his face. It took several minutes of staring at Iwaizumi, who admittedly squirmed under the dark gaze of one of his best friends, before Mattsun finally spoke.

“Dude… You guys are practically married,”

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

Despite his friends constant insistence on his relationship status through the rest of the video call, Iwaizumi knew the truth and that truth was that he was absolutely _not dating Ushijima Wakatoshi._

And yet, hours later, as he laid in bed staring into the black, empty void of his dorm room in the general direction of the ceiling, their conversation was still bothering him. It was hanging on and nagging at him from the back of his mind, no matter how much he attempted to push it away, to push it down and allow him to give into the exhaustion of the day and just sleep. Iwaizumi tossed and turned, pushing and pulling at the sheets on his bed in frustration until his roommate got up to smack him with a pillow before slumping back into his own bed.

He doesn’t quite remember when he gave up on going to sleep, and he definitely doesn’t remember when he pulled on a loose pair of sweatpants and a long sleeved top. But Iwaizumi vaguely recalls grabbing his keys and wallet, completely forgetting his cell, before heading outside and walking in the direction of Ushijima’s apartment at a fast pace. It was more than likely a mistake to be doing this at god only knows what hour it currently was, but there was no way he was going to find peaceful sleep again until the questions that have been running around and around in his brain have been answered. His earlier conversation convincing him, finally, that his suspicions were not just him seeing or overthinking the situation. So acting on pure adrenaline, and sleep deprivation, Iwaizumi pulled out his stubborn drive within himself, making it to Ushijima’s building in record time.

He was a bit out of breath when arrived but wasted no time in pushing on the buzzer, several times, before his conscious kicked in and he backed out. When the hoarse, thick with sleep voice filtered through the air Iwaizumi simply demanded to be let inside. Without questioning him, thankfully, the door was buzzed open and Iwaizumi practically plowed through it, his body slamming into the glass and metal in his haste. With the need to calm his nerves down just a bit, so he wouldn’t yell and ramble once he was inside the apartment, he counted the steps from the elevator to Ushijima’s front door.

Twenty-Three steps. As if sensing, more like he’d been watching through the fish eye on his door, Ushijima pulled open his door and stepped aside to allow Iwaizumi entrance as he arrived on the Twenty-Third step. He was barely inside the familiar, all too comforting and warm entranceway when he whirled around, not even bothering to take off his shoes. One look at the tussled, Olive tinted bedhead and sleepy, drooping gaze and the words spilled from his lips like horrible timed word vomit.

“Are we dating!?” Iwaizumi didn’t mean to yell it out, but that’s what happened. Ushijima flinched away at the sound as his face scrunched up, a first time seeing it for Iwaizumi and he felt rather guilty for it. Ushijima’s droopy eyes blinked until they opened widely, clearly he was still trying to wake up. He took a moment to simply stare at Iwaizumi before he shuffled from one foot, and then onto the other, the words Iwaizumi spoke setting in making him hesitate before quietly answering.

“I have assumed we are, yes,”

_You guys are practically married._

Iwaizumi mouthed out ‘ _Oh my god…_ ’ as his whole body went stone cold, staring blankly. His breathing hitched as he struggled to bring air in and rush it out.

“Wha- When? What!? I don't… You, you never asked and... We never… Oh my god what the fuck,” Ushijima closed his door and slide the lock in place out of habit.

“I find I am confused,” Ushijima’s voice was still borderlining on whispering as one of his hands came up to rub the back of his neck, obviously bothered by the whole situation and Iwaizumi didn’t know how to handle an extremely vulnerable looking Ushijima. He felt horrible about it, but at the same time it wasn’t his fault he’d misread whatever the other thought was happening between them. Right? Iwaizumi ran his hands over his face as a sighed groan escaped.

“Yeah… You and me both,” they remained silent for long several minutes. Iwaizumi kept his hands covering his face, fingers digging into his eyes as his brain tried to recover from short circuiting.

“Hajime,” this time Ushijima’s voice was just below what would be considered a whisper. Iwaizumi barely heard it. His fingers parted so he could look at Ushijima’s sad stricken face, and Iwaizumi found himself missing the vulnerable look because an obviously upset Ushijima was much more gut wrenching to witness. The coldness in his body completely washed away at the sight, his hands falling harshly away from his face to thump and dangle by his sides. There was still an edge to him, but Iwaizumi felt his body relax a bit as a fraction of the tension between them melted away. Softening his voice as much as he could he replied,

“What?”

“Did I… Have I... not made my intentions clear, in these past few months?”

“Okay, uh. How about… Why don't you state your, uh, your intentions now? Clearly,” 

_So I can figure out what the hell is happening right now._

He left the last part unsaid but he let his face and body language say it loud and clear, unsure if Ushijima would even pick up on it. Apparently he did, at least to some extent.

“Alright,” he motioned towards the living room, silently asking if they could sit down rather than remain in the doorway. Nodding firmly just once Iwaizumi quickly slipped off his shoes before stalking, rather stiffly into the arm chair that faced the couch. Ushijima wasn’t far behind him as he slipped onto the plush surface of the couch, sitting close to the chair without trying to make it awkward for Iwaizumi, an action he noticed and greatly appreciated in this moment. “Where would you prefer I begin?” Ushijima’s voice was a bit louder now but still extremely hesitant sounding, Iwaizumi breathed in deeply to try and square away some of the edge in his voice.

“The, uh. The start?” Ushijima simply nodded as he laid his hands to rest on his knees. Iwaizumi watched as the man slipped into more of his usual seriousness, thankful for an expression he can handle, as the hesitation disappearing as the words began flowing.

“I found myself drawn to you when we were still high school rivals, different from how I was drawn to Oikawa. After remaining silent on the matter for several months I consulted a few teammates on the matter,” a light, warm blushed started to grow across Iwaizumi’s cheeks and the tips of his ears, he tried to contain it but it was difficult under the intense gaze he was receiving. “The general consensus was that I had what is called a crush,

“I rejected my teams consensus at the time, assuming it was just your abilities and talent that caused me to pay more attention to you that others. When I met you again, the night in the campus Library, I found myself physically unable to look away from you once again even though I had no known reason to be watching you,” the blush roared to life and spread like wildfire. His neck and chest now burning as hotly as his face and ears. If Ushijima could see it in the soft glowing light spilling from down the hallway he didn’t let on that he could.

“It was extremely satisfying to see you in my sweater, I must admit. Tendou tells me that is a normal reaction when one feels a romantic attraction to another, when the individual wears something belonging to the other. Although, Tendou claims it to be more of a sexual reaction than romantic, but Reon assures me that it is not always the case,” Iwaizumi’s hands were covering his face again, his whole body practically boiling from the inside out. There was no way Ushijima couldn’t see the blush now, he had to be redder than a cooked Lobsters shell.

“Oh my god,” his voice was squeaky but he didn’t care.

“Would you like me to stop? You are very Red. You do not have a fever do you?” 

_Oh my god, you asshole. You have to know it’s a blush, like, dammit…_

“No… No I'm. Ugh, I'm okay. Just, just keep going,”

“As long as you are sure,”

“I'm sure, just hurry up already,” his voice was still coming out in high squeaks but he was too busy trying to control the heatwave running rampant through his body to really take notice of it. He let his hands fall away from his eyes, giving into the nagging urge to look at the other, but kept them covering his nose and mouth as his eyes met Ushijima’s. He couldn’t see them well from this angle, the light behind him casting him in shadows. But he could see enough to maintain eye contact.

“As you wish. I did not seek you out for some time, needing some time to understand myself and what I was feeling. Something I am not used to finding a need to do,” for some reason Ushijima paused, once again hesitating before letting his voice drop low, a dark edge threading into it as he continued. “Then I happened upon you while you were on a date,”

“Wait, wait, wait... Hold on… You _knew_ it was a date!?” his hands fell from their cover of his nose and mouth, jaw slackening at the new information. Ushijima gave him an incredulous stare, one thick eyebrow raising high.

“Of course, it was obvious,”

_No shit it was obvious! I thought you..! So why..!?_

“Then why did you…?” Ushijima immediately shifted his gaze away from Iwaizumi, obviously avoiding his questions and gaze. Something he’s never done before. Iwaizumi stared at him in utter shock as it was Ushijima’s turn to blush a deep shade of Red. Iwaizumi only noticing it because when he’d turned his head the light from the hall illuminated the side of his face. Iwaizumi’s eyes widened along with the smile now gracing his lips. “Holy shit. You were… Were you jealous?” The blush grew in color as the other remained silent, but he offered a very slight nod of his head that would have been missed if Iwaizumi hadn’t of been staring so intensely at him. “You were jealous… So you, you interrupted my… You interrupted my date, on purpose,” 

“Yes,”

“Holy… Okay, uh, keep going,” Ushijima turned, flicking his gaze back towards Iwaizumi, eyebrow raising a bit, clearly expecting a different reaction. He continued in a careful voice.

“When we agreed upon a time for coffee I consulted my old teammates, once again, for advice, which they unanimously agreed I needed to open up about myself more. Something that I find difficult for me to do, or express what I am attempting to get across is lost or misinterpreted. I believe this situation would be a prime example of this fact,”

“Agreed,” he snorted out and waved a hand for Ushijima to keep going, leaning back into the soft surface of the chair.

“I practiced with Reon on how to ‘ _small talk_ ’ so when you arrived at the coffee shop I would be prepared,” Then it clicked into place for Iwaizumi. _That_ had been the moment.

“Oh, oh shit. You asked me out to coffee… As a date, not just… It wasn't to return your sweater,”

“No,”

“You asked me on a date,”

“Yes,” he received a firm nod along with the words.

“You thought that we, oh man… You thought we started dating right then,”

“That statement is correct. I... apologize. For my own misinterpretations of the situation,” his voice dropped low again at the ending words to the statement. Iwaizumi was shocked for another moment, knowing full well that Ushijima Wakatoshi was not one to apologize. Not when he’d done nothing wrong and he hadn’t even now, but Iwaizumi wasn’t ready to tell him that just yet. He found himself needing more, needing that last piece to this complicated puzzle.

“Okay, so, once again. You asking me out to coffee was actually you asking me out, on a date,” a nod. “And you’ve been under the impression, the we have… Been dating… Since then?” another nod. Iwaizumi blinked as he processed. “Ushijima Wakatoshi that was _months_ ago,”

“That is also a correct fact,”

“Why didn’t you make a move or something!?”

“Make a move?” Iwaizumi groaned but pushed forward, it was too late to turn back at this point.

“Make a move, y’know. Hold my hand, hug me, k-ah,” he cleared his throat and squirmed a bit. “Ki-, um, kiss me?”

“Oh, I see. I did not _make a move_ , as I assumed your lack of physical interaction was because you wished to take things slow or was due to you being uninterested in such actions,”

“Woah, wait. You were under the impression that I wanted to take our relationship slow… Or that I didn’t _want_ a physical relationship so you, what, held back?”

“Yes,” the absolute, no hesitation seriousness of that answer both shocked and warmed Iwaizumi at once.

“You’re okay with a romantic relationship like that?”

“If it is what my partner needs to be comfortable and if it is what will make them happy then yes, of course,” Iwaizumi stared at him, searching his face for any trace of a lie over and over and over again. But all he found was that same no hesitation seriousness as before.

_Damn… I never stood a chance here, did I?_

“Why… Why didn't you Just, y’know, ask me outright? Y’know, with words?” 

“Tendou informed me that actions often speak louder of one's feelings than words,” Iwaizumi fell into a fit of laughter, because, honestly, that was kind of true but he also knew that Reon and Tendou more than likely didn’t mean the words the way Ushijima had taken them. Lack of sleep and the emotional roller coaster of the past hour was catching up to him, his stomach aching and head pounding with his sudden hysterics. Yet he also felt extremely light and… incredibly warm but not in a heated kind of way. More like a glowing happiness.

Ushijima remained quiet as he watched Iwaizumi come down from his unexpected burst of laughter and amusement, wiping tears away from the corners of his eyes before meeting Ushijima’s eyes again. Once the bubbling chuckles finally died away a yawn was ripped from him, bringing a few more tears back into his eyes. Iwaizumi stood up from the chair and reached his hand out towards Ushijima. Ushijima took it hesitantly and allowed Iwaizumi to tug him away from the living room and down the hallway towards his bedroom, enjoying the warm touch as he marvelled at how nicely their hands fit together. He was admittedly confused by the actions from Iwaizumi, but allowed them to happen anyways. 

He watched with surprisingly growing curiosity as Iwaizumi casually flicked off the hallway light as they passed it, pulling Ushijima into into his bedroom. He’d only turned on the small lamp by his side of the bed when his door buzzer had started going off so the room was still rather dark, but there was enough of a soft glow that they could see the outlines of each other. When Iwaizumi yanked off his shirt Ushijima’s silence broke as he rushed out the others name in a whoosh of air.

“Iwaizumi?” 

“Yeah? What is it? And call me Hajime,” Iwaizumi’s sweatpants soon followed his top as he spoke in sleepy, hushed tones. Ushijima openly stared at the exposed skin, wishing that he could see much more of what was being shown to him, but the lighting of his room only shadowed more than it revealed. His brain stopped working for a minute when his eyes traveled lower and processed the fact that Iwaizumi was now clad in only a tight fitting pair of dark briefs. 

_Are those sunflowers..?_

He couldn’t clearly see the design on the briefs Iwaizumi wore but they looked suspiciously like the suspected flower. When the function returned he heard words spilling past his lips before he could catch them and think through what he wanted to say properly.

“Would you date me if I asked now? I understand if your reply is no, in such an event I would still prefer to remain frie-" suddenly Iwaizumi was in front of him and rough, calloused fingers were slipped just barely an inch under his thin, sleeping shirt. Ushijima’s muscles rippled and twitched under the sudden contact, but Ushijima didn’t pull away from it as he looked into the dark pools that were Iwaizumi’s eyes. When the fingers traveled up a bit higher, bunching the material upwards he raised his arms and leaned forward as a silent agreeance to having his shirt taken off.

“You’re talking too much and ‘m tired. We’ll talk more later, ‘kay?” his shirt was yanked over his head and thrown to the floor, which should have bothered him since his laundry basket was barely a foot away from them but he ignored the raging instinct to pick up the discarded article off of the floor. Instead he reached for Iwaizumi’s hand again, finding he suddenly needed the contact to help him feel more grounded to the situation. Iwaizumi linked their fingers as he pulled the both of them into the bed.

Despite this only being the second time they’d ever shared a bed together, which should have made it all the more awkward and made them hesitant towards each others movements, they slid in next to each other with comfortable ease. Ushijima clicking off the small lamp as he eased himself into the mattress, Iwaizumi sliding himself closer until his head rested against Ushijima’s chest. As if they’d been doing this for years, Ushijima immediately curled his arms around Iwaizumi, forcing him to shuffle even closer against his side. After a moment of shifting around their legs tangled together, Iwaizumi enjoying the way Ushijima’s soft pajama pants brushed against his legs.

They were both naturally, very, warm people so they knew, without a single doubt, the position wasn’t going to last. One, or both, of them would overheat and move away soon enough, but for now they relaxed against the feeling of each other. Ushijima’s breath slid across Iwaizumi’s hair as he nuzzled his nose into the messy spikes, Iwaizumi’s fingers slowly caressed through the coarse hairs of Iwaizumi’s chest. All the tension of the early morning finally drifting away as their even, deep breathing fell into sync with each other as sleep crept in.

But one thing continued to stick out in Ushijima’s mind, preventing him from falling into sleep.

“Hajime?”

“What is it Wakatoshi?” he huffed out against the skin of the others chest, relishing in the warmth enveloping him as it gently lulled him into a meltingly relaxed state. The arms around him squeezed a bit tighter.

“Are we… Dating now?”

“Yes. Now go to sleep you dork,” Iwaizumi swears he heard a mumble along the lines of _’’M not a dork’_ but sleep was taking over too quickly for his brain to pick up on it. Before he allowed himself to slip completely into the blissful void of what was sure to be a deep, long sleep, Iwaizumi made a mental note to contact Tooru first thing in the morning when he got back to his dorm room. If Makki and Mattsun thought, or figured out in this case, they were dating, before they actually had been, he needed to openly talk about it with Tooru and that was not going to be an easy discussion.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

“So… You don’t have a problem with it? Us, I mean, uh, you don’t have a problem with me dating…” Iwaizumi struggled to speak, the burning sensation behind his eyes and in the pit of his stomach building and building as the long feeling minutes stretched out between them. He wanted to raise his eyes and look at his best friend, even if to see the rejection clear as day on his face but he couldn’t bring himself to do that either. It wasn’t as if this was a small issue between them, this was Ushiwaka he was now dating. Ushiwaka who is Oikawa Tooru’s rival, his nemesis, his _enemy_. He was officially dating his best friends enemy, and that fact was the biggest betrayal Iwaizumi had ever done, and he knew it. 

The silence continued between them, the heavy atmosphere weighing his muscles down and keeping his nerve endings vibrating with tension and fear. Iwaizumi isn’t sure exactly how long they sat there, with Tooru’s eyes burrowing deep holes into his head as he stared at his clenched fists in his lap, actively avoiding the intense gaze coming through the screen. He worried the flesh of his bottom lip between his teeth painfully, there would be marks later but he didn’t care, as he focused on holding back the tears that had been steadily building up that now threatening to spill over and fall down his heated face. Breaths were coming in and out in uneven shudders, his chest felt sore with each of the intakes.

And then Tooru heaved a deep sigh. The sound breaking the dam that held back the tears, they fell in large streaks down his cheeks and neck. 

“Silly Iwa-chan,” his head shot up to stare wide eyes and watery at his friend. Tooru offered him a saddened, very small smile as he sighed again and rubbed the back of his head. “I wouldn’t be the amazing friend that I am, if I had a problem with someone you clearly love. Even if I do, really, hate the guy,” 

Tooru was clearly trying to hide some of his own feelings, make it seem like it wasn’t such a big deal, but he couldn’t hide them from Iwaizumi. He knew him too well, could read them as they crossed over his face as if he was reading a book. Just like how Tooru could clearly see how he was feeling even if he did his best to hide it himself. It was a price of growing up so close to each other. So, he could tell that Oikawa wasn’t happy with his relationship, at all, but his words weren’t forced. Instead they came out whispered and gentle, like it pained him to say them but he did anyways because even if he didn’t like it, he loves Iwaizumi. 

Iwaizumi sniffled and rubbed his face against the sleeves of the, Ushijima’s, sweater to get rid of the tears before they stained his face. Blinking away the ones that wanted to fall he shuddered in a quick breath and let a happy grin pull across his face. Tooru was many things, a main one being a pain in his ass. But, he loves his friends and is also loyal to them to a fault. So Iwaizumi knew that despite his own personal feelings towards Ushijima he was going to try and be supportive of them, because he loves Iwaizumi and wants him to be happy. 

“Thank you,” he breathed the words out in a soft rush, taking in another sniffle as his emotions started to slow and calm down. Tooru flashed him two fingers in the sign of a ‘V’ as his genuine, barely there smile faded into the too large and extremely fake one he usually sported.

“Awe, Iwa-chan! Don’t mind, just pay me back with your first born,” 

“What the fuck Tooru?” Iwaizumi snorted as a gasp, as fake and extreme as the smile, slipped from his friend and he raised a hand to cover his mouth in mock shock.

“Such vulgar language Iwaizumi-san! My innocent ears are burning!” 

“There’s absolutely **nothing** innocent about you dumbass,” Tooru squawked, literally squawked which caused Iwaizumi to choke on a snort at the sound. A long string of bickering broke out between the two of them. Iwaizumi smiling widely the whole time even though it began to hurt his face after a few hours, because not even the others antics or sore muscles could ruin just how happy he felt in that moment.

･*:.｡. .｡.:*･

“Hajime?” he flinched, nearly upsetting the warm mug of coffee currently gripped in one hand, his chin had been resting casually on the other as he leaned against their kitchen counter. Iwaizumi had been lost in his thoughts, staring out across the open concept of their apartment, not really focusing his eyes in on anything specific, but staring in the direction of their living room anyways. His still sleep heavy, drooping eyes flicked towards the person who had pulled him out of his memories as a soft, warm filled smile tugged the corners of his lips upwards.

Ushijima leaned against the arched frame of their hallway that lead past the bathroom towards the bedroom, clad in nothing but tight fitting, purple and black pajama pants with the little alien from Looney Toons all over it. He held back a snort at the sight and kept the thought of how Tooru would be horrified, yet also amused, to see Ushijima in such an article of clothing. 

“Hajime, are you alright?”

It was odd that he was awake before his boyfriend, who always rose just before sunrise to go for a morning jog in rain or shine. Both were early morning people but Iwaizumi prefered to jog at night rather than the mornings. It always helped clear his head and melt away any leftover stresses from the day right before bed, which helped him sleep better through the night. Sometimes they would jog together, alternating between each others prefered times.

The sound of shuffling caused him to blink and refocus again. Realizing he hadn’t replied to the question yet, Iwaizumi sent him a reassuring smile, though it was softer and smaller than his usual ones.

“‘M okay Wakatoshi, just a little lost in my thoughts, woke up too early I guess,” the other hummed in response, coming up beside Iwaizumi and wrapping an arm around his waist as he pulled their bodies closer until they were slotted together, his back to Ushijima’s chest. He leaned into the touch, laying his head back against the others chest, awkwardly yet still comfortingly, as he enjoying the seeping warmth that always radiated off of Ushijima. Ushijima leaned forward and placed a small, wet brush of his lips against the bared skin of Iwaizumi’s throat, barely considered a kiss but it still sent a small shiver through him. 

Neither one bothered to say anything more, words weren’t needed in these moments, as they just took in each other, enjoying the sense of comfort and the feeling of being home they brought when alone together. Ushijima’s thumb running along the material of Iwaizumi’s sweater, gently massaging the skin underneath of it, and Iwaizumi slowly sipping his lukewarm, over-creamed coffee in between nuzzling against Ushijima’s side and chest.

Yes, when he looks back on how all of this started, how his life somehow came to be on this path, Iwaizumi finds himself drowning in a pool of mixed emotions. There’s the swirling, light hearted feeling of happiness and contentment that is growing and spreading every minute they’re together. There’s the tugging, sinking feeling of sadness which resided deep inside his gut although this feeling is fading out day by day as he slowly floats back to the surface instead of sinking further down. There’s the confusion and uncertainty that chains these feelings together in a seemingly invisible web that always sneaks up on him, but he’s learning to catch it before it binds him. Then there’s the cliche as hell regret which he knows will always be there, lurking in the background like some nagging phobia that just won’t go away.

Iwaizumi can handle all of these drowning, some days, overpowering emotions and feelings, because he grew to find the most important one of all. He discovered love with someone who was once his _enemy_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I know it was a lot, but thank you :)


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